Bologna, The Fat One
Prior to our trip to Italy, I mentioned to a colleague that we would be traveling from Parma to Rome, and she recommended that we stop in Bologna for an afternoon on the way. I’m so happy we did. As we would only have a short period of time in the city, we booked a food tour with Delicious Bologna. We met our guide in the morning near a bookstore along with the rest of our group made up of travelers from across the US and Europe.
Bologna is often called “La Grassa,” meaning “the fat one” because of its rich culinary tradition and local cuisine. We began our tour at Caffe Terzi with cappuccino and croissant filled with pastry cream, interestingly called “brioche” in Bologna. The coffee was excellent and probably the best we had while in Italy.
Next, we walked to Bruno Franco’s La Salumeria which offered a variety of cured meats, cheeses, and breads. Our guide purchased a sample of meats and cheese to taste later.
We walked to a location around the corner where fresh pasta is made in the traditional way of the region. It is rolled by hand into large sheets of pasta known as “sfoglia” then cut and shaped by hand into various pasta shapes. Bologna is known for tortellini which is ravioli stuffed with a filling made with many of the region’s finest products: pork loin, mortadella, prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiana Reggiano, eggs, and nutmeg. It’s also known for tagliatelle ragu which is the original “bolognese” sauce. I love making pasta by hand and to be able to watch “le sfogline” (pasta makers who were traditionally women) do it with complete mastery of technique was both inspiring and humbling for me. I realized I still need many hours of practice to achieve the level of skill they possessed. Our guide mentioned that you can book a pasta making class that I would love to do when we visit again.
From there we walked the streets of Bologna which were bustling with students, locals, and visitors. Bologna is home to the oldest university in the world, The University of Bologna which opened in 1085. We walked through a neighborhood known as the “Jewish Ghetto” which is a maze of alleyways and passages with small windows which was established by Pope Paul IV. The neighborhood had guarded entrances which were closed at night. The walls of the region are designated with a tile map in the shape of the Hand of Miriam, a symbol of Jewish culture.
Our next stop was Osteria Del Sole, the oldest osteria in Bologna, established in 1465. Originally osterias did not sell food, only wine. The customers would bring their own food and sit at large wooden communal tables, drink wine, and socialize. Here we tasted the cured meat and cheese from La Salumeria. We sampled mortadella, prosciutto di Parma, culatello and Parmigiana-Reggiano all produced locally. Lambrusco is the wine of Bologna. It is a cold sparkling red wine that is produced in Emilia-Romagna. In the US, Lambrusco has a poor reputation due to overly sweet wines exported in the 1970s but the Lambrusco served in Bologna is a much higher quality.
We continued the walking tour through Bologna and its beautiful historic streets to a restaurant named La Salsamenteria for some traditional pasta dishes. The tortellini en brodo was excellent. The broth was rich and clean and made an excellent carrier for the tortellini allowing you to taste the ingredients in the filling. We tasted tagliatelle ragu and Bologna’s version of lasagne which uses spinach pasta dough, ragu, and bechamel sauce. All the pasta was superb, there is no match for hand made fresh pasta especially done with the level of skill as the pasta makers in Bologna.
After lunch we sampled the difference between Balsamic Vinegar of Modena with IGP designation and DOP designation. IGP and DOP are classifications given to certain foods that follow strict guidelines according to local tradition. DOP is more heavily regulated than IGP and thus tends to result in a higher quality product. Both balsamic vinegars were very good but the DOP balsamic was exceptional. It was thick and sweet with a strong complex aroma. DOP Balsamic is aged for a minimum of 12 years and must be stored in a specific bottle designed by Italian car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Our final destination was a pleasant walk through a student area with walls colorfully adorned with street art to Gelateria Cremeria Mascarella. Gelato is richer, smoother, and denser than ice cream in the United States, and an excellent end to our food tour.
Lauren and I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and loved Bologna. We plan to return on our next visit to Italy. If you visit the region, I highly recommend Delicious Bologna food tours. Our guide was friendly, knowledgeable, and passionate about the region. We learned so much about the area in such a short period of time and the food was fantastic.
To learn more about the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy visit our article here.